So Glastonbury fans really are getting older! Gran proves she's no stick in the mud

If you think music festivals should remain the preserve of the young, look away now.

Undeterred
by the mud, rain...and throngs of youngsters, this grey-haired
Glastonbury fan pushed what appeared to be a walking frame through the
crowds yesterday.

She and
thousands more had descended upon the 900-acre site at Worthy Farm, in
Somerset, which was churned up by a second morning of torrential rain.

Pensioner pop? A grey-haired woman pushes a walking frame through crows of young festival fans at Glastonbury yesterday

Many were left queuing to buy
wellies, umbrellas and waterproof ponchos, but as you might expect from
the older generation, this lady looked well kitted out.

The festival begins in earnest at 11am today when bands take to the main pyramid stage. Up to 170,000 are expected to attend

But
although fans seem undeterred by predictions of another downpour
tonight, the weather has already caused some problems. On-site medics
have treated dozens – many of whom have hurt themselves slipping over in
the mud.

But music fans put on brave faces despite hundreds of tents flooding and the treacherous conditions.

Quagmire: A festival-goer carefully walks through a puddle. There'll be a lot more where those came from

Desperate measures: Site workers try to suck mud from the market areas close to the Pyramid Stage in an attempt to dry them before the main event begins

Dare to bare: With conditions this bad, the only solution is...shorts.
As small as possible, so there's less to get a soaking. Negotiating
tricky patches with aplomb will be the order of the weekend for the best dressed
festival goers

Tent city: Aerial view of the Glastonbury Festival taken today. Over the course of a few days Glastonbury becomes the home to thousands of party goers creating a temporary town twice the size of the city of Bath

FESTIVAL FORECAST

TODAY: As the festivities begin in earnest they weather will be dry with more sunny spells.

Unfortunately as the day progresses the cloud cover will increase, meaning there is the chance of a shower in the afternoon and a wet evening looks likely – so wellies are definitely needed.

WEEKEND: The weekend weather is looking good with some warm temperatures in the low 20’s and even up to 25C on Sunday with more sunny spells – so time for the sun tan lotion.

It will be breezy but again the nights are looking dry with temperatures of 12C on Saturday night and 15C overnight on Sunday.

Glastonbury Festival organisers in tractors have been dumping tonnes of straw and bark onto the ground in a bid to combat the boggy conditions.

A week of wet weather has saturated the 1,100-acre site and turned large areas into a huge bog with mud up to eight inches deep.

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Revellers were woken in the early hours by torrential rain beating down on their tents.

Conditions will
improve over the weekend, reaching 24C (75F) by Sunday. And as flaming
June finally arrives, temperatures will even soar to 31C (88F) in some
parts of the country on Monday – the hottest yet this year. Some areas
will even be hotter than Istanbul. But it won’t last. There will be
thunderstorms and showers next week, the Met Office says.

However, the rain and mud failed to dampen the spirits of the festival-goers - who took turns to dance and dive through the mire.

Egged on by his mates, 17-year-old
student Tom, from Kent, performed headlong dives on demand to cheer up
arrivals trudging through the sodden 900-acre site.

Countless efforts left him caked in mud from head to toe, with dairy farm sludge stuck in the braces on his teeth.

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But he declared with a grin: 'If I run out of clothes, I'll just do it naked.'

His dives received roars of approval from hundreds of onlookers along with the group of friends he was camping with.

Best friend Callum Burgess, also 17,
said: 'I'm supposed to share a tent with him but he can sleep outside.
Look at the state of him.'

Chris Darch, 24, from London, said: 'It bucketed down with rain at about 5am and made the site look like the Battle of the Somme.

'It's not what we wanted but everyone seems to be making the best of it. The kids are playing in the puddles, the adults are dancing in it and one mad lad even performed a dive through the mud.'

A total of 177,000 revellers are
expected to attend the festival, which gets underway in earnest today
when the music starts on the main stages.

In for a penny... Tom Wilder, 17, from Kent, gets into the festival spirit and performs a dramatic slide in the Glastonbury Festival mud

Having far too much fun: Spirits are high despite the deluge. And welly manufacturers must be having a field day too

Baling out: Market traders lay straw down in market areas close to the Pyramid Stage. Ach! is that a speck of mud on my leg? (right) It certainly is.

The half-mud princesses: Flower child Mila from Wales arrives in her floral carriage, aka pushchair, while four-year-old Lyra Warrilow from Rugby enjoys her third Glastonbury dressed as a princess. Spot the handy waterproof all-in-one under that sparkly skirt

Those tiger feet: A pride of big cats take the necessary precautions with their paw-wear. But where's the sunshine?

U2 'TAX DODGE' PROTEST

U2's Glastonbury set will be interrupted
by an 'unmissable' protest against the band's alleged 'tax
dodge', campaigners vowed today.

Direct action group Art Uncut is plotting
a 'visual spectacular' during the Irish band's headline appearance on
the Pyramid Stage.

The protest is expected to involve a giant
inflatable let off by the group. Placards will also be held up declaring 'Bono tax dodger' and 'Bono pay up'.

The group is staying tight-lipped over
details of the protest but campaign member Anna Walker, 32, said: 'Everyone there will see it.

'If the BBC do not broadcast it,
there is little doubt that it will have been an editorial decision.'

Fellow campaigner Charlie Dewar added: 'U2's multimillion euro tax dodge is depriving the Irish people at a time
when they desperately need income to offset the Irish government's savage
austerity programme.

'Tax nestling in the band's bank
account should be helping to keep open the hospitals, schools and libraries
that are closing all over Ireland.

'Bono is well known for his
anti-poverty campaigning but Art Uncut is accusing him of hypocrisy.'

U2, Morrissey and Biffy Clyro will take to the famed Pyramid Stage tonight as the festival gets into full swing.

Coldplay will headline the main stage on Saturday night and Beyonce on Sunday. Acts appearing on other stages include Chipmunk, Chase And Status and Primal Scream.

Avon and Somerset Police said 36 arrests were made on Wednesday - the opening day - for a variety of offences including possession of drugs, theft and assault.

A quantity of drugs, some believed to be Class A substances and legal highs, were recovered and taken away for examination.

However, festival organisers just said no to the chance to have the sewage analysed for drugs.

Dr John Ramsey of St George's medical school, University of London, has pioneered a method of detecting even miniscule quantities of legal highs and illicit substances in human waste and was hoping to test his project at Glastonbury.

Despite the fact that the scheme had the backing of the police, Glastonbury officials vetoed it, with the festival's founder, Michael Eavis, telling The Guardian: 'The drug culture these days has changed beyond belief. What a cheek to even suggest there's a problem.'

General crime at the festival has dipped from last year's levels, according to Inspector Chris Morgan, from Avon and Somerset Police. He said: 'We are pleased with the way the festival has been going so far.

'It
is early days but reported crime is lower than the same time last year
but our proactive patrols have made a higher number of arrests -
demonstrating our determination to ensure that all festival goers have a
safe and happy time here - despite the mud.'

There
are eight regular police officers and 40 special constables patrolling
the site at Worthy Farm near Pilton, Somerset. Diving face down through
Britain's biggest mudbath, teenage reveller Tom Wilder ensured the
Glastonbury cheers started early.

Clouds cleared over the Pilton hills
last night, but the rain returned this morning and is due for a reprise
later today - the best weather is not expected until Sunday.

More
than half the ticket-holders for the sold out event will have squelched
their way to the site by tonight. But early arrivals' efforts to secure
prize camping spots were confounded by yesterday's monsoon-like
conditions.

Hundreds of
tents were flooded within a few hours as torrential downpours began
shortly after gates opened and fans began streaming in.

Treacherous conditions: Festival goers traipse through the mud around an ice cream van at the Glastonbury Festival. Anyone for a 99?

That sinking feeling: One happy festival goer enjoys her mud bath, left, while this colourful
character, middle, seems less impressed by the goo underfoot. Meanwhile someone else, right, looks as if he's had a bit too much of everything, not just mud

Campers hauling their bags and beers
along the slippery thoroughfares were even told to pitch tents on hills
to escape the worst of the wet conditions.

Marc Saunders, 31, from Bath, pitched his tent in driving rain with his five-year-old daughter Sam and wife Sarah.

He said: 'We say it's "go hard or go home". We're thrilled to be here, the place is magical - even in the mud.' Another early arrival, 19-year-old James Street, from Belfast, was caked in mud from head to toe after slipping in a puddle.

Go hard or go home: Muddy revellers chill out at the stone circle during the evening celebrations. Finding a high spot out of the mud was a good plan

Nearly there lads, watch it doesn't all fall out...A group set off to pitch their tent. Have they got the kitchen sink in there?

He said: 'I'm drenched, obviously. But it's great just to be here with my pals. Legendary place, legendary line-up. We're not interested in the headliners - there's so much more to see.'

The first
of the main acts take to the Pyramid Stage tomorrow, when the wet
weather is expected to return. Among a host of theatrical events at the
site will be Glastonbury's own version of La Tomatina.

Other new elements for this year include The Spirit of 71 stage, with acts that played at the festival 40 years ago.

It started well: Festival goers and assorted druids cheer as they gather at the Stone Circle to see the sun set at Worthy Farm, Pilton

Beyonce,
who fell in love with the Somerset festival after watching husband
Jay-Z perform three years ago, is believed to have cleared her diary to
party in Pilton over three days.

Rapper Jay-Z is even money with bookmakers Ladbrokes to join his wife on stage this Sunday.

When
Somerset farmer Michael Eavis organised the first festival 41 years
ago, he combined a typical pop festival with a more traditional
harvest-type event.

Aerial view: Over the course of less than a week Glastonbury becomes home to thousands of party goers in a temporary town twice the size of the city of Bath

At the first ever Glastonbury in
September 1970, around 1,500 people paid just £1 to see Marc Bolan and
T-Rex headline the event - with free milk thrown in.

When the second festival was organised a year later the date was moved to coincide with the Summer Solstice in June.

The
first Pyramid Stage was built on the Glastonbury Stonehenge leyline for
the event, which added a spiritual element to the festival.